After the former congressman and immigration firebrand penned an op-ed in The Washington Times arguing that Obama was more a danger to the country than al-Qaeda, I suggested that the media just ignore him. Now how actually has a chance at becoming Colorado’s next governor.

It’s a fair question. During the time analyzed, Denver police dealt with at least two serious matters – the spree of racially motivated beatings in LoDo, and the now infamous police beating of Michael DeHerrera. Your Spotted This Morning correspondent wonders whether the findings will become a talker, or if the analysis simply glances of the Teflon mayor as critiques of him are so wont to do.

Complete Colorado found that though the mayor’s 2009 calendar includes scores of regularly scheduled private meetings with department heads and council members – and even sets aside time for haircut appointments (of which he should have had more) and for his son’s soccer game (of which we all should approve):

The same calendar indicates that the Mayor never conducted a planned, one-on-one meeting with his Manager of Safety, (MOS), Al LaCabe.*

The asterisk comes with a concession that Hickenlooper did meet with LaCabe, who retired this summer, to interview candidates for his replacement on three occasions.

The mayor’s spokesman told Complete Colorado that the calendar didn’t show the times Hickenlooper spoke by phone to department heads. Also, LaCabe participated in weekly staff meetings.

“I ride early in the morning and I see wildlife,” Maes told the crowd.

No word on whether Maes could see the U.N. from the trail, but the apparent (erstwhile? ersatz?) frontrunner in the Grand Old Party’s gubernatorial primary continued his explanation that Denver’s nonprofit-supported B-Cycle bike-sharing program is a danger to Freedom and Liberty, the American Family, and his crazy first wife’s apple pie.

In Steamboat, Maes used his superior intellect to assert that the B-Cycle program may violate Colorado’s Constitution, though your Spotted This Morning correspondent can’t imagine how it does so. Maes said the program did so because it received taxpayer money, which it doesn’t. Meanwhile, what does he think Colorado’s cities and towns use to build their much-loved bike trails, moon rocks?

Maes also admitted he hadn’t fully researched the alleged global conspiracy in depth – but insisted he was on the single-track to the truth.

As The Denver Post’s Christopher N. Osher reports, while Maes initially thought of the program as most of us do – as a harmless, if marginal, effort to reduce pollution – he now has seen the light.

(It’s that staticy TeeVee light that comes with lost signals, you know.)

“This is bigger than it looks like on the surface, and it could threaten our personal freedoms,” Maes said.

He added: “These aren’t just warm, fuzzy ideas from the mayor. These are very specific strategies that are dictated to us by this United Nations program that mayors have signed on to.”

Now that your Spotted This Morning correspondent has signaled that he disagrees with Maes about the actual goals of the B-Cycle program, please allow me to make an argument that the gubernatorial candidate should have made.

There are plenty of transportation experts out there who see big downsides in the “sustainable communities” model that so animates people like John Hickenlooper.

The argument is that with so much transportation funding going to build such things as pricey light rail systems that never pay for themselves, and which reduce only a fraction of vehicle miles traveled, cities are actually increasing congestion by not providing adequate infrastructure for those who drive.

Lynn Bartels thinks politics is like sports but without the big salaries and protective cups. The Washington Post's "The Fix" blog has named her one of Colorado's best political reporters and tweeters.

Joey Bunch has been a reporter for 28 years, including the last 12 at The Denver Post. For various newspapers he has covered the environment, water issues, politics, civil rights, sports and the casino industry.